Testing the integration of political discourses into the socio -technical map of urban mobility

With this paper we want to verify if the integration of political discourses into the socio-technical map (ST-map) will help to achieve a better understanding of the past, present and future innovation processes affecting the societal function of urban mobility. We test the modified ST-map in two cases: 1) The revision of the 2030 scenarios of urban mobility that were proposed in Marletto (2014), and 2) The retrospective analysis of the Freiburg (D) case. The two tests prove that with the integration of political discourses the ST-map improves its ability to represent the dynamics of urban mobility (both past and future). In particular, the modified ST-map shows that there is a mutual dependence between the actual policy approach to urban mobility, and the ability of competing networks of influencing the arena where different political discourses face each other. Moreover, it is apparent that more sustainable practice may eventually emerge only if a new network of innovators is able to scale up a cumulative causation process involving legitimacy, empowerment and supporting policies.